Jews Remember Holocaust

At Yom Hashoah Observance

Participants in the service said the latest events prove how important it is to teach everyone about the Holocaust.

Remembering the Holocaust has been a mixed blessing this month for South Florida Jews.

The up side: the state House last Thursday passed a bill to require that the Holocaust be taught in Florida's public schools. It was voted on as Jews began observing Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, which started at sundown that day.

The down side: The Miami Hurricane, the student newspaper at the University of Miami, ran an advertisement on Tuesday by a revisionist questioning proof of the Holocaust.

Both sides were on many minds on Wednesday night during the communitywide Yom Hashoah Observance at Temple Kol Ami in Plantation. Participants said the latest events prove how important it is to teach everyone about the Holocaust and to never forget the six million Jews who died.

"There are still people who say the earth is flat, we never landed on the moon and the Holocaust never happened," said George Gottlieb, 65, of Hallandale, who survived Auschwitz and other Nazi death camps. "I wish I could pay to take them all there and show them what happened."

Nobody needed to prove the Holocaust to the estimated 1,500 people who attended Wednesday's communitywide observance at the Plantation temple.

"Today, for Yom Hashoah, it hurts too much to talk about it. But it's impossible to forget," said Leo Schniderman, a survivor of the Lodz Ghetto in Poland and the night's keynote speaker.

They came to remember and honor fellow Jews, friends and family members who were exterminated at the hands of the Nazis. And they turned out in force: The gathering was the largest this year for Holocaust remembrances in Broward, organizers said.

That's because this is the first year the north and south Broward Jewish communities have teamed up to sponsor a Holocaust observance. The event was presented on Wednesday, rather than on the actual Yom Hashoah, so it would not conflict with temple programs being held that day.

"It's no longer a community of Jews. It's become a Jewish community," said Gary Jacobs, co-chairman of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Broward County.

The observance was a somber gathering: Generations of Holocaust survivors lighted candles in the temple sanctuary. Schniderman told audience members of the pain and suffering he witnessed and endured. People wore patches of yellow stars that read: "Never forget. 6,000,000."

But there was also hope, as much of the service was dedicated to today's youth. The Maimonides Community Day School Choir sang sacred songs, and college students carried placards naming Nazi concentration camps.

"These are the places where they persecuted Jews," said Zev Lenchus, 19, of Sunrise, a Broward Community College sophomore. His placards read: Auschwitz, Buchenwald and Belzec.

"We have to carry on the message because we don't know how much longer the survivors will be around," Lenchus said.